Cam Newton’s 1st Playoff Game Ends with Disappointment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most of his Carolina Panthers teammates had cleared out of the locker room by the time a somber Cam Newton sat down at his locker to mull how his first playoff game ended with a loss.
Cornerback Drayton Florence walked by with a consoling pat on Newton’s right shoulder. Moments later, safety Mike Mitchell stopped to whisper something to his quarterback.

These moments — the missed opportunities, the sting that comes with having a season end abruptly — will stay with the former No. 1 overall draft pick after the 23-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round.

“We have to accept the task at hand and make the most of it because playoff football is a different speed than the regular season,” Newton said. “I learned that firsthand today.

“You have to seize the moment when a moment allows. We had too many opportunities that we let slip through our hands. That was just the story of the day.”

It took Newton, the former Heisman Trophy winner who led Auburn to a national championship in 2010, three seasons to reach the playoffs. He led a Panthers team that started 1-3 to eight straight wins to turn around their season and win the franchise’s fourth division title, the No. 2 playoff seed and a first-round bye.

Playing in front of a sellout home crowd in Carolina’s first playoff appearance since 2008, Newton shook off a first-series interception and had the Panthers offense moving early. But Carolina struggled to finish first-half drives against a playoff-tested defense, then couldn’t get much going through the second half as Colin Kaepernick got the 49ers back to the NFC championship game for the third straight season.